Local News

Apartment Fire Displaces Raleigh Residents

A pot left on the stove started a fire at the Trestles Apartment complex Sunday morning. Eight units were destroyed, displacing 10 residents.

Posted — Updated
RALEIGH, N.C. — A pot left on a stove started an apartment fire in north Raleigh.

The fire at 4702 Bay Ridge Crossing in the Trestles Apartment complex started at 5:15 a.m. Sunday.

Eight apartments were destroyed, displacing 10 residents, firefighters said.

“It happened so fast. The walls and the door just caught fire and everything just went in the apartment,” Michelle Burgher said.

Burgher and Kurt Duncan were asleep when the blaze began.

“Our neighbor, he really saved us,” Burgher said.

“I called the fireman and went around banging on everybody's door,” Nas Aranda said.

Everyone made it out of the Trestles Apartment complex safely.

Raleigh firefighters battled three apartment fires this week. The largest blaze was Wednesday at the Concord Apartments. Twelve units were damaged by fire.

“There's no connectivity between them as far as I can see. We went a couple of months and had very little activity, and we've been busy the last few weeks,” Raleigh Fire Department Division Chief Rusty Styons said.

Burgher and Duncan had heard about the recent apartment fires.

“We were just talking about that, just talking about renters insurance and we didn't get it. So it's crazy,” Duncan said.

Without insurance, Burgher and Duncan will have to find some way to replace everything destroyed by the fire.

“She (Burgher) actually tried to turn back. I told her to leave everything in there. It's all material stuff,” Duncan said.

Some of the items were irreplaceable. Burgher runs track and is a 2004 Olympic Medalist for Jamaica. Her photos from Athens were inside the apartment.

“My bronze medal wasn't in there, luckily, but all my pictures and everything was on the wall,” she said.

Burgher said she is most thankful everyone is OK.

“We have life,” she said.

The Red Cross is helping the residents displaced by the fire.

Suggest A Correction

• Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Videos

WRAL Late News
watch ·
WRAL WeatherCenter Forecast
watch ·
Evening Pick 3 Pick 4 and Cash 5
watch ·
Mega Millions Drawing
watch ·
Republican state schools superintendent candidate Michele Morrow hosts campaign event on school safety
watch ·